


detective work

by jjjjxce



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous Relationships, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Canon Compliant, F/M, Hurt No Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, POV Saihara Shuichi, Sad Ending, Saihara Shuichi Needs a Hug, Saihara Shuichi-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:34:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29128827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjjjxce/pseuds/jjjjxce
Summary: detective work comes first for shuichi, no matter the situation. emotions can wait.
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Saihara Shuichi, Momota Kaito/Saihara Shuichi, Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi
Kudos: 22





	detective work

the pain wasn’t recognizable at first. the press was simply there, blood stained with a jacket sleeve hanging from the inside. there were no emotions in that moment, only analytical thoughts. who was the culprit? who was the victim? who was going to die next?

the obvious answer to the second question was kaito. all of the signs were there. all of the evidence pointed to it being him. then the exisals showed up. hearing kokichi’s voice for triggered something, but it was ignored. the mystery had to be solved. the detective had to figure this out.

the trial was hard, confusing. in the end it had been kokichi under the press. kaito was executed, and his death was that of a champion. the room was left dim and empty, the individuals inside merely ghosts.

a memory resurfaced, one from the last time kokichi had been around. he had said that he had won. he stole his heart, and now he was satisfied. how could shuichi ever be satisfied now, when the few people he loved were now dead? 

kokichi believed he was trustworthy. he trusted him and shuichi had gone and betrayed him, painted him as the villain he had tried so hard to be. there was no seeing through that lie, not fully.

there was really nothing left for him. nothing that would fill the empty fucking void that wormed it’s way into his chest. he wanted to rip his heart out, tear his brain apart and remove his eyes. death seemed better than the agony of grief that never left him. despair didn’t begin to describe the feeling.

shuichi, on his feet, left his room and entered kokichi’s. he held his pillow close and cried. he cried and he screamed and he hurt. how could he have let everyone he loved die? how could a good human do that?

kaede told him at the beginning of the game that this was his destiny. was that true? was his destiny really to hurt the ones he cared for? to condemn them to a painful death? how was that fair? how was that a life at all?

kaede. kokichi. kaito. all of his friends. they had all died by his hands. it was his doing. why did he get to live on while they are left in the dust, memories instead of beings. how could shuichi live on?

the answer did not come easily. when the final trial came and went and he chose to not choose, he too was being condemned to death. he hoped, silently, that he would be reunited. that he would get to hug kaede again, train with kaito again... love kokichi again. maybe death would bring him the peace he so desperately desired throughout his life.

when he saw the hole, a part of him wanted to leave through it. to walk through and wake up and be presented with his friends around him telling it was a bad dream. maybe he would walk out and find out it had been faked, a vr stunt. 

he could not allow himself that. he didn’t want a life of constant regret and anguish because he had decided to go on and live after this. he had to die here, had to be buried with the rubble. maybe the chances of truly seeing them all again were higher in the bubble, at least a bit higher than they would be outside of it.

maki and himiko really did try to stop him but how could they. he promised them it would be best if they let him do this, and while maki yelled and himiko wept silently, shuichi turned his back to them, and walked back to the school, disappearing behind the dust.

maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all, trapped in the school with the ones he loved. maybe hope would prevail in death instead.


End file.
